Thursday, January 2, 2014

"In writing fiction, the more fantastic the tale, the plainer the prose should be. Don't ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story." Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (born November 8, 1932) is an American author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, six-time winner of the Hugo Award, a former editor of Analog magazine, a former editorial director of Omni (magazine), a past president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America, and lives in Florida. wikipedia I've read books where there is so much detail that I forget what the characters are doing. The truth for the author to assimilate is this: Don't plant trees around your splendid forest.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little
as if you have lost a friend. ~Paul Sweeny

Paul Sweeney seems to be more famous for his quotes than for his books. The titles remind me of textbooks:Ireland's Economic Success: Reasons and Lessons; Ireland's Economic Success: Reasons and Prospects; Race and Racism in the West: Crusades to the Present; Ri Im/TB Organizational Behavior; Selling Out?: Privatisation in Ireland; The Celtig Tiger: Ireland's Economic Miracle ExplainedI don't know what a Celtig Tiger is, and I'm not really interested in his topics. But I am captivated with the private reading habits of such a scholarly man. It's interesting that an intellectual finds books compelling enough to be "friends." I'm supposing these are works of fiction he refers to. Even with my overactive imagination I cannot conjure up the image of a man holding a book under his arm with affection when the title of the tome is "Weightier Biorhythms in the Western Hemisphere."I have books on my shelf (and in my Kindle) that I have returned to read again. I hope that the books I write will be friends that will lighten lonely hours, give counsel to confusion, and draw readers to yearn for a better life. Of course, Jesus is the answer to loneliness, confusion, and higher planes!I have a Pinterest board that captures all sorts of readers. Reading? Everybody's doing it!